A Valley Story
by PenAngel
Summary: Tom, Jack's cousin, is a writer who moved in with Jack in Forget Me Not Valley to help tend the farm. What happens when Jack's story is told from a writer's point of view? Read and find out...
1. Almost Arrival

Disclaimer: Natsume and Harvest Moon are not mine. Tom, however, is.

The seasons of Forget Me Not Valley are always beautiful. The town itself is very peaceful. I remember a time when it wasn't, when me and my cousin, Jack, arrived…

**Waiting outside the hospital room, Jack and I are worrying out of our minds about his father. Step-father, actually, but that's splitting hairs. I was visiting them in Rosebud City, and I had only planned on staying for a week. (My name, by the way, is Tom. I'm a writer, and I was originally born in Mineral Town. I am somehow related to the Mayor Thomas there. Thus the name) My week trip was almost over when Jack's father was attacked; mugged on the streets. He was shot just above his heart, shattering his collarbone and punching a hole in the top of his shoulder-blade. But as I was saying, Jack and I were sitting there when Takakura shows up. I know him, of course, but Jack looks clueless. He is my brother's mother's father's nephew's cousin, or something like that. On the side that isn't related to Jack. But he went straight in there to see about Jack's father, as soon as he had greeted me and Jack. Jack and I exchanged a quick glance and a twitch of the eyebrow. Things were getting interesting. About fifteen minutes later, Takakura comes out and tells us that things are okay. Jack breathed a sigh of relief, mine coming shortly after his. But, (there's always a but) Tak said that we had a promise to keep. Not a day later, we left for a place called Forget Me Not Valley…**

**Tak explained that he had started a farm a time ago with Jack's father and that, with Jack's father relinquishing his ownership of the farm, Jack was to inherit it. I asked here why I was coming. Tak looked over at me and said, "I've already spoken to your parents, and they said it was your decision, seeing as how you don't live with them anymore anyway. Besides, you've read plenty of books on agriculture and animals, and Forget Me Not Valley is a very peaceful place with wonderful people. I'm sure you would get some inspiration from your surroundings there." _He has a point_… I thought. I had writer's block like white on rice. Not that I was going to admit it. He continued, "Now, the house on the farm is only built for one, so you two are going to have to decide who is staying in the house and who will in the shed. It's clean, and as it's the only place not being used, it's the only place we can house the other. Now, choose." Jack and I looked at each other at the same time. "ROCK PAPER SCISSORS!" Not exactly the most scientific way to solve our dilemma, but it worked. I choose paper, it being my favorite of the three as a writer. Jack chose scissors, so I was in the shed. _Oh well… _I thought,_ I'm sure Tak will help me fix it up later._ "So that settles it. Jack gets the house. Now, there are a few things you should know. First off, there are three girls in the valley that are eligible for marriage. But you'll learn more about them when you get there. I need to tell you about the farm, the traveling salesman, and the parts of the Valley's economy that support farming." Tak launched off on a long, boring, almost hypnotic speech. I zoned out on him though. Not exactly the most professional thing, but that wasn't something I was interested in. I just remember thinking, _This will be interesting…_ **

Okay, so I didn't quite get to our arrival yet. But sometimes, the beginning is just so interesting… I'll get around to it later I guess. Tomorrow, most likely… I'm just too tired… I think I'll do that. Good night folks!


	2. Arrived!

Disclaimer: Natsume and Harvest Moon still aren't mine. Tom still is.

I woke up to a wonderful morning with a blazing sun and a crystal clear blue sky. There isn't anything more that I could possibly ask for. Except for perhaps a house. The shed is nice, but a house would be lovely. But on with the story...

**We arrived safely at the edge of Mineral Town, and were greeted by all manner of people. The mayor even came out to say hello. Once Takakura had finished his business in Mineral Town (something to do with Barley, the local cattle retailer) we set off across Mother's Hill for Forget Me Not Valley. Coming down, we saw what looked like a tiny little village you might find inside a snow globe. Without the snow, of course. But as we neared the bottom of the hill, it became apparent to me that this really was a tiny little valley village. Takakura proceeded to lead us towards a path that lead straight through the heart of the village, towards the Inn, but he turned at the last second onto a dirt road that gave an open view of the farm. It was beautiful. Tak went over all the basics of farming, showing us where our tools are, telling us where to plant seeds and where our cattle will go, and where his house is if we need assistance. I was taking a look around the place while he was pointing out to Jack where the farm house was, and I decided in my mind that I liked the looks of things here. I focused in on the conversation again long enough to realize that Tak was pointing out the shed where I would be staying.**

"**I will build a house for you later when I get around to it, but considering there is a lack of funds and of labor you will have to deal with the shed for the time being." He said.**

"**The shed will be fine for now. Just don't worry about it unless you absolutely have to." I said. I didn't want the poor man worrying himself to death. He already had enough gray hairs.**

"**Well, that's about it I guess. Oh, I forgot. I need to show you around and introduce you to the residents of Forget Valley." **

**Takakura really was trying his best to make us fit in and be comfortable. It was a nice effort. I respect him for that. So off we went, an odd little threesome, our first destination being the Inn...**

**Right after he introduced Tim, the owner of the Inn, and Ruby, his wife, Tak looked at us and asked us what we would prefer to be called. **

"**Jack is fine with me, considering that is my name." My cousin sure can be a little dense sometimes. Things were starting off great, I could just see it.**

**I spent a little more time deciding, since my real name is Thomas, like the mayor of Mineral Town, but I really didn't want to be called Thomas. Too long. I finally decided on a shortened version of my full first name.**

"**Tom will do nicely, if that doesn't bother you too much. If you want to be formal and make my skin crawl, you could always call me Thomas..." I really like my shortened name, but I always try to give people a choice. After all, some people do like different things, as I had no doubt learned over the years. That's probably why a few of my books didn't sell like I'd hoped...**

"**Tom it is then. I'm too lazy to call you Thomas." Good old Tak. As lazy as I remembered. Tim wasn't much better, though. He and Ruby said they would call me Tom if only because yelling Thomas might take too long if there was an emergency. I was starting to like the laziness in this area...**

**So off we went, meeting Nina and Galen (the residential elders of the community**)**, Chris, Wally and Hugh (the athletes of the community), Romana (the town rich lady), Lumina (Romana's grand-daughter), Sebastian (Romana's butler), Griffin (owner of the Blue Bar, a fine drinking establishment on the main and only street, or so he says), Muffy (the part-time worker at the Blue Bar and helpless romantic of the community. Eligible bachelorette), Vesta (the owner of the large farm full of lively vegetables that we passed on our way in, also the only place to buy seeds), Marvin (Vesta's brother, a pain in the butt depressed kind of guy. He's just a worker) and Celia ( resident helper at Vesta's farm that waters crops and sells seed. Eligible bachelorette).** **Takakura also told us about the rest of the community that we hadn't seen; he told us about a traveling poet by the name of Gustafa that lives in the bright colorful yurt in the middle of the Valley (you couldn't miss it, that much color screams at you), an artist by the name of Cody (metallurgist really) who lives in the metal trailer near Turtle Swamp (I'm assuming that patch of filthy water is the swamp), and the twins, Patrick and Kassey, that make fireworks in their water tower.** **He told us also about an archaeological ruin up near the waterfall (I forgot to mention that there is a lovely river, ocean view, and waterfall in this valley) that was run by a man named Carter and his assistant named Flora, both of which living in the same tent beside the ruins. **

**Our tour complete, Jack, Tak and I headed back to the farm to take another look around and go to bed. The sun was already setting in Forget Valley, as we had spent so much time traveling and meeting the new people in town.**

**I was heading towards the shack when I noticed what looked like three little lawn gnomes (one red, one blue, and one yellow) running through the pasture. I stopped to take a look, but they vanished so quickly that I didn't have the chance to see where they had gone. It was at that point that Takakura caught up with me to tell me he needed help moving the bed into the shed for me. Naturally, I complied, seeing as how sleeping on the ground isn't the least bit appealing to me ( I always hated camping because of that). Once we were done, I explained what I had seen to Tak, relating the story of the lawn ornaments.**

"**Are you sure you're okay?" Tak asked, feeling my forehead and looking at me with concern in his eyes. "Lawn gnomes aren't plentiful around here, especially ones that move. Maybe you just strained yourself somehow. You need to get some sleep. Tomorrow is a big day." With that, he retired to his cabin, leaving me to retire to my shed. I looked one last time at the pasture before I turned in. After all, I swear that I saw the gnomes laughing at me. _Oh well..._ I thought, heading towards my bed,_ Takakura's right. I need to be getting some sleep. Tomorrow I begin my new life as a hired hand that writes novels and poetry for fun._ With that being the last thought of the day, my consciousness slipped from me, leaving me with the last mental image of gnomes running through the pasture...**

Well, that was the yesterday. I know, I made it sound like a long time ago, but as least I can say I remembered it like it was yesterday. So tomorrow, I will tell you about today. That way, I can always be a day ahead. Good night!


	3. Day Three

Disclaimer: Harvest Moon and Natsume do not belong to me (to my misfortune). All I own is this story and Tom. (Sad, isn't it?)

The epic saga of Life on the Farm continues with day three...

**I woke up this morning to a bright ray of sunshine blazing through a dusty windowpane. It would have been extremely lovely if there wasn't a head staring in the same window...**

"**Get your rear in gear and out of bed, sleepy head!" Jack yelled, apparently not aware that you can open the door and avoid the unnecessary trouble of screaming. But I know; I make Jack sound like a complete idiot. He really isn't, he just doesn't have much in the way of common sense.**

**So up I had to get, pajama pants and all. I walked over to the ancient mini sink attached to the wall of the shed and turned it on. It somehow got water from the well outside and pumped it in, but the only thing I realized it was good for at the moment was a good wake up splash. Very cold, that water was...**

**Then I started the trek to Jack's house to use the shower and shave, which took a grand total of about 10 minutes (all of the water seemed to be cold). Then I was ready to greet the day...**

**...and Takakura...**

"**Good morning." Tak said cheerfully, wide awake (he was obviously used to this morning routine). "I just came to remind you about the cow that you have in your barn at the moment. She's young, and recently given birth, so she'll give you milk for a while. You do, however, have to breed her to keep receiving milk. She doesn't just make it non-stop."**

"**So you're saying that cows lactate just like women do!" Jack seemed astonished. He didn't seem to grasp the fact that cows are mammals too.**

"**Just leave the animals to me, Tak. Jack has the muscle for farming, which **

**I obviously lack, so he can do the planting."**

"**Well Tom, the only other thing you need to know is that she eats twice a day from the bin in the barn, which is filled with fodder from the field. Just cut from the pasture if you need more. Oh, and the milker is on a shelf in the tool shed. If you gather any dairy products, such as the milk, that you want to sell, you can either sell it to the townspeople or leave it in that blue building over there in the cooler. I'll sell it for you at the market. See ya."**

**_'Just great, _I thought_, I'm up at 5:30 in the morning now to take care of a cow. Oh well, it could be worse...'_ And with that thought, I went to go inspect my new charge. **

**I decided to name her Bessie, since that seemed to me to be a pretty decent name for the cow. She was a normal cow, black and white spots standard, to be milked twice a day. I could handle that. So I petted the young cow, nuzzled with her, fed her, and milked her. Not that difficult. **

**I took the milk I gathered and placed it in the cooler in the blue building, where I knew Jack wouldn't get at it to drink it. Speaking of which, the entire time that I had been caring for the cow, Jack had been carefully tilling the soil in a pattern where any type of root crop could grow and not become entangled. He was also working on an arrangement for the orchard he planned to raise, so he sent me off for seeds when he saw that I was done with my chore.**

**Vesta wasn't there at the present moment, and I didn't want to deal with Marlin, so I settled down on the edge of the stream nearby, drinking in the natural beauty of the fish and the bed. It really was breath-taking; the blue and green hues reflected off of the scales of the fish and the particles at the bottom of the water made it seem as if you were completely enveloped in a rainbow of colors so thick you could cut it with a knife. I decided then that there was plenty to write about in Forget-Me-Not.**

**I just had to know where to look.**

**A hand touched my shoulder, and I nearly fell into the river out of surprise. The very same hand grabbed my arm and held me steady as I regained my balance.**

"**I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. I was just going to ask you why you came to the farm and left just to wait here at the stream." It was Celia, of course. I had forgotten all about her living on the farm, or I would have asked her sooner.**

**I told her that I didn't notice anyone when I arrived, but that she could probably help me if she had the time. She said she would be more than delighted. I explained exactly what Jack was doing at the moment, and what kind of seeds he had sent me to retrieve. She seemed genuinely interested in the idea of what Jack was doing, so I invited her to come to the farm and take a look. She was so excited she nearly forgot to grab the money I tried to hand her for the seeds. After we had finished the transaction, off we went to what I called Freedom Farm. **

**Coming up, I realized it wasn't much to look at, but it was home. That's what mattered. **

"**Hey, Jack! I brought you a visitor!" This being said, I led Celia around to the patch of dirt that he was busy tilling at the moment. **

"**Wow. You really have put a lot of thought into these plant beds, haven't you? Are you going the plant these seeds in that form, or are you planning on buying some more?" Celia was genuinely interested. I was genuinely bored. Soon, Jack and Celia were deep in a conversation about the basic rules and responsibilities of agriculture, which I understood and ignored. I sat there for a few minutes, wondering if the conversation might end...**

**...minutes became an hour... **

**...became two hours... I swear my mind had gone numb from the sheer weariness of the chit-chat. Excusing myself, I took another look at my cud-munching charge and milked her once more. She was very generous this time, filling about 4 bottles to the brim with her ivory bounty. I stored these with the others, and went to go see Takakura, who had just come home from wherever he goes during the morning hours.**

"**Hey Tak. Where have you been? I swear you disappeared for at least 4 hours."**

"**Yeah, went to the next town over and took a look at the market. Not much there. Thanked Barley for the cow. But whatcha need kid?" He must have figured out I needed his help with something.**

"**Do you know where I might be able to buy a quill and some ink around here? My supplies are running low right now..."**

"**You can't really purchase any of that locally, but a man by the name of Van comes by with an assortment of odds and ends a couple of days out of the month. You might be able to persuade him to keep his eye out for some."**

"**Thanks Tak. By the way, there's some milk in the blue building for you to sell. I put it in the big cooler, though. I was afraid Jack would drink it if he noticed it."**

"**Heh, yeah, that's Jack for you. See ya around Tom." With that, our little exchange ended, and Takakura entered his house for some peace and quiet.**

**_That was not such a bad idea_, I thought. I looked at my watch and received a shock. It was 10:30! The sun had gone down hours ago, and Jack and Celia were still going strong. _Oh well, I'll just have to interrupt their conversing long enough to give them the time. It shouldn't be that hard._**

"**Hey, farm-friends! I know you love the seeds and all, but it's time to give them a rest. Not to mention yourselves." _Lovely_...**

"**He has a point, Jack. It's gotten late, and I've kept you from getting any work done. You need to go rest. I'll come back tomorrow when it's light, if it's not too much trouble, and we can work on sowing those seeds." **

**Jack quickly assured Celia that is was no trouble at all, and walked to his house with a new spring in his step. I swear a smile crossed Celia's face as she left to grace her own abode with her presence. _Those two have got to be the thickest pair, to fall for each other. Or maybe not. They do get along pretty well... Today wasn't such a bad day after all..._**

**That was my last thought of the night, as I slowly entered the shed and prepared myself for bed. My mind went blank long before my head hit the pillow.**


End file.
